Buying a property in a seaside resort: at what price?

France offers many coastlines bordered by pretty towns and villages where it is nice to spend a few days or even live. The demand for property to buy – as a second or main residence – has increased so much that prices have sometimes soared. From north to south, here are some benchmarks compiled thanks to the Best Agents barometer, to guide your project according to your budget.

Champion cities by zone
The two-year study compiled data from 31,000 transactions in cities with a beach and at least 20% second homes. Here are the records found, distinguishing between the most expensive and the “cheap” municipalities.

The Channel coast
For the study, this zone includes all the coasts in the north of Brittany and therefore includes the Hauts de France. Le Touquet is the most expensive town in this area, with an average price per square metre of €5,037, followed by Deauville and Benerville-sur-Mer, which rise to €4,852 and €4,116 respectively.

The cheapest towns are in the Manche (Fontenay-sur-Mer and Geffosses) and in Calvados, which is home to the most accessible seaside resort in the area: Saint-Pierre-du-Mont and its €1,255 per square metre.

Brittany
It is Trinité-sur-Mer which culminates at the top of the Breton communes with a price per square metre of 4,343 €. It is followed by Carnac and then Larmor-Baden, both at a little over 3 900 €.

It is in Brittany that you will also find the cheapest seaside resort in France, Goulien, which has an average price of 1 193 € per square metre.

The Atlantic coast
On the west coast, Lège-Cap-Ferret will cost you €8,167 per square metre, ahead of Portes-en-Ré (€7,582) and Arcachon (€6,252).

At the bottom of the ranking, Cette-Eygun is positioned at 1,309 € per square metre, while the communes of Barzan and Talais are over 1,600 €.

Languedoc-Roussillon
Palavas-les-Flots, la Grande-Motte and Collioure are the most expensive coastal municipalities in this area with €4,144, €3,889 and €3,878 per square metre respectively.

However, you can find accommodation at around €2,000 per square metre if you opt for La Palme, Torreilles or Port-la-Nouvelle.

The PACA region
Some communes in this region are reaching tariff peaks, such as Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat with an average price per square metre of €13,264, or Ramatuelle which is at €12,744. These prices are comparable to the most expensive districts of the capital and change from year to year.

Conversely, Hyères is the most affordable city on the southern coast with an average price per square metre of 3,591 €.

General trends
The classification doesn’t reveal any particular surprise, the palm of the highest rates obviously going to the Côte d’Azur. Some interesting evolutions can however be pointed out.

The average prices of the different coasts
The list drawn up by the study classifies the regions according to the average prices charged in the seaside resorts :

the PACA region in the lead, with an average of 4,770 € per square metre, an increase of 5.5% over the last 24 months.
the Atlantic coast at 3 731 €, an increase of 12.7%;
Languedoc-Roussillon at €2,904, up 6.5%;
the English Channel and the Hauts de France to €2,671, up 2.5%;
finally, Brittany, with a price of €2,577 per square metre, up 9.5% over two years.
If we look at the last 12 months alone, Brittany has seen the biggest price increase, with a 6.3% rise. The other areas have all experienced a less strong progression over the last year, compared to the year before. The Channel coast has even seen a 0.6% decrease in prices over the last 12 months.

Other noteworthy information
Even if it has slowed down, the rise in prices is therefore continuing overall. This is not, however, the case everywhere and all the time, as we can see from the previous annual studies.

Thus for example, the commune of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in PACA posted in 2017-2018 an average price of 13,929 € per square metre, which has thus fallen by nearly 700 € over two years.

Finally, the study reveals that buying less than 5 minutes walk from the beach will cost you 23% more than if you live more than 15 minutes away. For the picky eaters, it seems that between 5 and 10 minutes of walking, the extra time you spend on the beach will cost you 10% more.

If you are dreaming of settling down permanently or for a few annual stays by the sea, you now have a few clues as to which agencies to contact according to your budget. The investment can sometimes be substantial, but you can consider making the purchase profitable through seasonal rentals, managed by a local agency if you are not on site. The good sea air is yours!